Bowling Green 81 Russellville 62 (4th Region Championship)

[coachlee]

I definitely wasn't the part I bolded.

 

My birthday is in June.

 

Us June, July (me), and early August guys are about the only one who just turned 5 before kindergarten starts and the other kids with birthdays in the other nine months turn 18 during their senior year of high school. So we are actually the untypical kids. Vast majority hit 18 in senior year and thus hit 15 in freshman year.

[PurplePride92]

That's what I was thinking. I was 14 as a freshman and graduated at 17.

 

I was also. I turned 18 two weeks before I went to college. That was 1992. In 2017 a majority of 15 year olds are freshmen in high school.

[bernies]

That's what I was thinking. I was 14 as a freshman and graduated at 17.

 

It's becoming more prevalent to start boys (sometimes girls) in kindergarten at age 6. Kindergarten used to be half day play/half day learning, it was better for kids. Now, it's sitting in a desk doing worksheets for 7 hours a day. Look at any 5 year old and that's tough, especially on boys. I think parents are choosing to start them later. It's also beneficial when playing high school sports to be a year older, physically and mentally.

[The Professor]

It's becoming more prevalent to start boys (sometimes girls) in kindergarten at age 6. Kindergarten used to be half day play/half day learning, it was better for kids. Now, it's sitting in a desk doing worksheets for 7 hours a day. Look at any 5 year old and that's tough, especially on boys. I think parents are choosing to start them later. It's also beneficial when playing high school sports to be a year older,

physically and mentally.

 

I agree.

 

That wasn't a factor for me when I started school because back then my county school didn't have Kindergarten, only grades 1 through 12. Of course that was a long time ago, 1960. No Pre-school, no Head Start, no Kindergarten in those days. At least not in Owsley County.

My first experience with school was grade 1 as a 6 year old, and I turned 7 the following June before 2nd grade. Graduated at 17.

[dognation2]

Most kids on the Adidas/Nike/Under Armor AAU circuit have been held back. Not saying this is the case with this young man. It's common knowledge, it's encouraged and quite frankly it might not be such a horrible thing. Do it early; have your kid assimilate early on with a new age group of kids. I used to frown on it but hey no one is hurt or punished for doing it; and it seems to reap plenty of awards if you are looking for your child to progress and excel in bball.

[BigVMan23]

In what world is 15 a typical freshman?

 

That's what I was thinking. I was 14 as a freshman and graduated at 17.

 

Not sure Deuce what you think the typical age of a high school freshman is, but most turn 15 between Aug and May of their freshman year...by far the vast majority. Of course you will always have a few younger and will graduate before they turn 18, and you will always have some older due to failing a grade, holdbacks, etc.

 

Prof, you were just on the younger end of that spectrum sounds like. I have a young man that I coach who will be 17 when he graduates...is a sophomore right now, and he won't be 18 till the following October...almost a full 5 months after he graduates. Not only could he be a freshman now, which actually should probably be his natural class, but by rule he could have been held back, be in the 8th grade right now and STILL be eligible to play all 4 years of high school athletics. It would have been unreal the difference he would have made for us as an 8th grader...and almost as unreal to think that it actually falls within the allowable age range, by almost a full 3 months.

[Nathaniel Bryan]

Most kids on the Adidas/Nike/Under Armor AAU circuit have been held back. Not saying this is the case with this young man. It's common knowledge, it's encouraged and quite frankly it might not be such a horrible thing. Do it early; have your kid assimilate early on with a new age group of kids. I used to frown on it but hey no one is hurt or punished for doing it; and it seems to reap plenty of awards if you are looking for your child to progress and excel in bball.

 

But then you also get kids like Erin Boley (started senior year at 17, turned 19 during college freshman season) and Lydia Gumm (qualified for State as a third grader), where age don't mean jack and wouldn't have mattered if they were 18 (Boley) or older (Gumm) when they graduated.

 

And many of these 19-year-old seniors are fringe players, because really, if you expect to be on the elite level, you were elite at 17 and 18 and did NOT need to beat up on kids 2-3-4-5 years younger to prove it as a 19-year-old senior.

 

I know a couple of folks who held their kids back and it really didn't help scholarship wise. NAIA is great and all, but many kids could have gotten similar scholarships had they just graduated at 18 (pay-to-play programs such as Campbellsville and Lindsey are notorious for signing zillions of kids with a promise of making their collegiate athletic dreams come true just so CU/LWC can use that athlete's checks to pay the bills).

 

If you're good, you're good. No matter the age.

 

But when people find out you're older -- sometimes, MUCH older than your competition -- it creates doubt about your true talent as well as your academics and psyche.

[sweet16]

I graduated at 17. Hated it. I started both my kids late. I didn't want to start them and then hold them back. I did it before they started.